AI startups continue to attract a wave of investment, with $10.4 billion pouring in during the first quarter of 2025 alone. The latest to benefit from this AI funding wave is Bridgetown Research, a Seattle-based startup that’s catching investors’ attention with its unique approach to market intelligence.

Today, Bridgetown Research announced a $19 million Series A funding round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Accel, with additional backing from a leading research university. This latest raise puts the company’s valuation at $250 million, Reuters reported, citing sources with knowledge of the funding.

With fresh funding secured, Bridgetown Research is gearing up for its next phase of growth. The company is doubling down on its AI capabilities, aiming to refine how its AI agents analyze proprietary datasets. Instead of simply gathering data, these agents will be trained to uncover deeper insights, giving businesses more precise intelligence to act on.

In addition, Bridgetown is expanding its network of experts and industry partners. By tapping into specialized knowledge, the company hopes to improve the quality of its data collection, ensuring that its insights remain ahead of the curve.

Beyond enhancing its technology and data sources, Bridgetown is also focused on making its platform more practical for decision-makers. The goal is to deliver intelligence that isn’t just informative but immediately useful—helping clients make smarter, faster business moves.

A Different Approach to AI Market Research

Bridgetown Research isn’t following the conventional playbook for AI-powered market intelligence. While many companies use large language models (LLMs) to sift through publicly available data and generate summaries, Bridgetown is taking a different route. The company develops AI agents that actively gather proprietary data from subject matter experts and customer surveys.

By focusing on first-hand insights rather than recycled internet content, Bridgetown provides decision-makers with fresher, more reliable information. These AI agents don’t just collect data—they analyze trends, detect emerging patterns, and offer strategic insights that help executives and investors make informed business moves.

From Private Equity to a Broader Vision

Bridgetown Research was founded by Harsh Sahai, a machine learning veteran who previously led AI teams at Amazon and worked as an engagement manager at McKinsey & Co. Initially, Bridgetown Research focused on private equity deal screening, helping investors assess potential acquisitions with AI-driven insights. Over time, the company expanded beyond private equity, recognizing that its approach to gathering intelligence could be applied to a much wider range of industries.

“Companies are built on the quality of strategic decisions and the research and analysis behind it,” Ishaan Preet Singh, an investor at Lightspeed, said in a statement. “Bridgetown Research enables the smartest executives and investors to make these decisions with an order of magnitude more information, and at a pace that was earlier impossible.”

Now, Bridgetown serves clients across multiple sectors, offering data-driven insights tailored to their specific needs. The startup’s technology is especially valuable for businesses that require high-quality intelligence but lack the resources to conduct extensive research on their own.

AI Agents and Research Automation

As AI-powered research tools continue to gain traction, Bridgetown is positioning itself as a key player in the space. By focusing on original data and expert-driven insights, the company is offering an alternative to AI solutions that rely too heavily on scraping existing information.

With investors betting big on AI-driven market intelligence, Bridgetown Research is set to play a major role in shaping how businesses gather and interpret data in the years ahead.